Meet Jack Maitra | Drummer, Music Director and Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jack Maitra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jack, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Yikes! My work life balance has been quite the contentious issue since I decided (for some godforsaken reason) to pursue the drums professionally. In high school I was known to cut classes and skip my lunch period, opting instead to retire to the band room to engage in rigid practice and record content for social media. In fact, instead of relishing in the beautiful Arizona sun during my senior year spring break, I forced my poor parents to drive me to the Scottsdale Guitar Center for two hours every day so as not to lose even a second of practice time. Vacation? Never heard of her! This unhealthy obsession with bettering myself continued into college until the pandemic basically ameliorated all prospects of playing music with others and all access I had to a drumset. While staring down an uncertain future in which the very idea of communal music was in jeopardy, I had to reconsider my love for not just my instrument, but for music itself. In the fog of lockdown, I explored other interests that I had hid away since dedicating myself to the drums, and in their rediscovery I came around to the idea that a multifaceted personality maybe wasn’t the sign of a weak, indisciplined mind, but the sign of a healthy, well-rounded person. Ever since, I’ve made it a distinct priority to allow myself time for hobbies (my Rubik’s Cube phase is legendary amongst my roommates), and in doing so I’ve found myself able to plumb new depths in both my drumming and my songwriting.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In both the professional and the creative, music is a fickle creature. As a touring drummer, the creative input I offer is generally relegated to providing a mature, understated backbone to support the music of the artist, with my own personality only bleeding through in quick, seconds-long fills that are sure to be lost among the general concert-going crowd. In this way, it’s almost ironic that the grueling, cerebral exercises I would practice for hours on end in college gather dust in my musical toolkit while I’m tasked with simplicity, with understanding my place amongst the ensemble. Some might then consider those hours of practice wasted and their skills underutilized, but as I’ve grown as a pop musician I’ve understood that there is a time for everything, for every lick, chop, groove, whatever it might be. To find the correct moment, the correct situation for each is the sign of a true professional musician.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
According to friends, family, and failed romantic partners (of which there have been plenty), my food palate is notoriously underdeveloped, so my recommendations for signature Los Angeles restaurants extend basically to USC’s Wingstop on Figueroa Street and the McDonalds down the street from my house. Folks, take these with a grain of salt (heyo!). For what I lack in culinary expertise I’d like to think I make up for in my love for film, so I can recommend a few interesting filming locations and historic movie theaters throughout the city. Mostly I’d encourage anyone visiting Los Angeles to head to the Santa Monica Pier or the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard–basically any lowkey, tourist-free underground spots like those.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My roommates! Since my sophomore year in college, I’ve been beyond fortunate to live with three other professional musicians, each of whom astound me every day with both their creativity and talent on their respective instruments and their unending passion for the craft. Two of them have had incredible opportunities as touring and recording musicians thanks to their impressive hard work and dedication, while the third is a singular singer/songwriter with an ear for creation like no other. While we certainly uplift each other musically, our bond stretches beyond the craft, as we have truly become a family over these past five years emotionally and spiritually. Their distinct successes motivate me to better myself as a drummer and songwriter, and without them I would not be half the man I am today.

It would also be disrespectful to leave this question without mentioning my parents, the two people who have supported me the most throughout my entire journey through this volatile industry. From buying me my first drumset in Tokyo, Japan, to encouraging me to audition for my high school jazz band (the fights over which are legendary in my house), to finally accepting that most radical of decisions to attend school for music, my mother and my father have been instrumental (wink wink) in my success as a professional drummer.

Instagram: @jackmaitradrums

Image Credits
Amaya Josephs Milo Lee